Lone Star dinghy?!?

toocoys · Sep 10, 2018

Y’all may remember Willy the dinghy. He was a 9’ Caribe inflatable RIB that I purchased two or three weeks ago and had a 5hp Nissan on him. He barely planed with one person and was way too slow and way to uncomfortable, so I sold him after 4 days.

So I remembered my father had my grandfathers 12’ aluminum Lone Star boat out at the farm. I plan to bring it back, clean it up and use it for a get around boat. Getting around the lake etc in our home marina. We aren’t cruising so lifting it on davits etc isn’t a problem.

My three questions are:

1. What would you do to refinish this to a shiny aluminum? Wire wheel? Sandblasting? Paint stripper?

2. It will be used in brackish/salt water how do I protect it?

3. Should I go 10hp or 15hp outboard? I don’t want major speed but I’d like to be able to nicely plane and get there with two grown men aboard.

Stats from old Lone Star literature are 11’9”, 98lbs.

Dougcole · Sep 10, 2018

I'd sand it with about 100 grit on a random orbital sander where the paint is heaviest, then go up in grit for the rest. I'd spray paint it white after that. I've done that with jon boats for duck hunting a few times, works well. I kind of doubt that you will be able to get it super shiny, but I've never tried to do that as it would spook ducks.

If it's rated for it, I'd put a 15 hp two stroke on it if I could find one. A 10 might work too, but a 15 would be better. Always better to have more HP than you need and not use it too often than not have enough when you need it.

toocoys · Sep 10, 2018

Dougcole said:
I'd sand it with about 100 grit on a random orbital sander where the paint is heaviest, then go up in grit for the rest. I'd spray paint it white after that. I've done that with jon boats for duck hunting a few times, works well. I kind of doubt that you will be able to get it super shiny, but I've never tried to do that as it would spook ducks.

If it's rated for it, I'd put a 15 hp two stroke on it if I could find one. A 10 might work too, but a 15 would be better. Always better to have more HP than you need and not use it too often than not have enough when you need it.

I would love to have it be a shiny aircraft aluminum, but painting is probably more rational.

The old literature says its rated for 7.5... but if you do the modern calculations for boat to motor ratios 15hp is the recommendation.

Westiculo · Sep 10, 2018

I know from working on bikes that it's damn near impossible to keep it as shiny aluminum - I'm afraid you'll have to paint. Easiest would be to let it gray. It might look cool gray if you added just a stripe of paint or something along the gunnel

O C Diver · Sep 10, 2018

I wouldn't sand the paint off. If you want to scuff the existing paint and paint over it, then lightly sand it. If you want to take it down to bear aluminum, lacquer thinner and a scrub pad will probably be pretty quick without taking away any aluminum.

Ted

toocoys · Sep 10, 2018

I'll probably end up painting it off white with a turquoise stripe in the traditional fashion of Lone Star's.

Dougcole · Sep 10, 2018

I like that.

koliver · Sep 10, 2018

LOL
I pick up a boat like that one a few years ago for my beach boat. It lives just above high water on the beach in front of my house. I drag it over the rocks to go get crabs. Yours is in better condition than mine. When I got it, I tried for weeks to get it to stop leaking. I used a couple of tubes of Lexel, but didn't succeed the first year. Late in the fall a storm turned it sideways to the surf and battered the stem quite badly. Then it REALLY leaked, so another whole tube of Lexel went into it along the riveted stem. Hasn't leaked a drop since! Now I will haul it up to the house if a big storm is threatened.
It weighs so little that a 9.9 should get two men up on a plane.

toocoys · Sep 10, 2018

koliver said:
LOL
I pick up a boat like that one a few years ago for my beach boat.

This one was used on a duck hunting lease way down south in the marshes of Louisiana. My grandfather was a duck hunting guide for decades. When he died my father brought it out to the family farm to use in the fish pond. It doesn't leak at all.

There are a few cracks in the chines that I am going to patch with alumiweld rods, and I have to figure out some kind of fitting for the plug in the transom. Have to figure out that whole different metal corrosion thing and how to prevent it. Other than that it floats and is completely usable.

I'd like to maybe build a small deck over the bow out of wood, and maybe put a remote steering console on it (a-la boston whaler style).

toocoys · Sep 10, 2018

koliver said:
It weighs so little that a 9.9 should get two men up on a plane.

The literature says that it only weighs 98lbs, but that's really old advertisement literature.

I just need it to get on plane and GO. That inflatable RIB that I had got up on plane but barely stayed there. I want it to feel securely on plane.

BruceK · Sep 10, 2018

toocoys said:
...I just need it to get on plane and GO. That inflatable RIB that I had got up on plane but barely stayed there. I want it to feel securely on plane.

You speedster! Where`s Art`s speedboat icon when you need it.
Would you bother painting the bottom? It`s just going to get sanded regularly,like every time you beach it.

toocoys · Sep 11, 2018

BruceK said:
You speedster! Where`s Art`s speedboat icon when you need it.
Would you bother painting the bottom? It`s just going to get sanded regularly,like every time you beach it.

Yes, I'm going to put a bottom job on it. It's going to be stored floating and tied up to my big boat.

We don't have beaches in our immediate area. We're inland on Galveston bay.

BruceK · Sep 11, 2018

toocoys said:
Yes, I'm going to put a bottom job on it. It's going to be stored floating....

I think you`ll need an aluminum specific a/f paint, ie no copper in it.

toocoys · Sep 11, 2018

BruceK said:
I think you`ll need an aluminum specific a/f paint, ie no copper in it.

See, this is the kind of information I need. LOL

toocoys · Sep 11, 2018

I think I've secured a 1984 Johnson 9.9 for about $450 including shipping to me.

The fun part is that the 9.9 is the exact same engine as the 15 except for the carburetor. So a carb swap should give me more hp if I end up needing it.

I think it looks like a very clean engine.

O C Diver · Sep 11, 2018

I have a 6 HP mercury from the 1980s. I believe there were 3 HP ranges for that motor (6, 8 and 9.9). The difference between the motors I'm told, is the decal on the cover and for the smaller engines there is a restrictor plate (limits air flow) between the carburetor and the motor. I'm told that removing the plate or drilling it out, changes the HP. Maybe you will get that lucky. Mine is still a 6 HP.....but you never know.

Ted

Dougcole · Sep 11, 2018

Perfect engine for that boat. Is that block the same as the 6hp and 8hp or the same as the 15hp? I can't remember, and Ted may be right, it might not be able to be souped up to 15hp. If it can, it seems like a no brainer.

Funny, my buddy had a very similar boat that he got from his grandfather. We used it to hunt in Louisiana, in Delta Wildlife refuge, south of Venice. I think it had a 6hp on it, it would barely plane with two of us in it, but not with a bunch of decoys, two guys, a dog, guns etc. We shot a pile of ducks out of it.

Nomad Willy · Sep 11, 2018

Old 6-8hp 2 stroke is best for these aluminum skiffs IMO.
Very good boats. The most popular boat in Alaska.

toocoys,
May already been mentioned but Interlux has a how to section on their website and however brand specific it’s excellent advice/guidance.
I followed their guide and put AF on a 16’ Crestliner. Turned ot great but was a lot of coats and work. But one can see howmany coats of what kind of primer and what is best for topcoating ect.

Wood · Sep 11, 2018

Truck trailer aluminum cleaner. Zep. Phosphoric & sulfuric acid - so take appropriate precautions. This will also get into any crevasse corrosion and arrest that process. If you have any enclosed flotation foam and flood the hull to clean it out you should also neutralise with ammonia until slightly basic ~ pH 9 is good. Periodic bilge treatment with baking soda will prevent future acidification.

dennismenace111 · Sep 17, 2018

toocoys said:
Y’all may remember Willy the din okghy. He was a 9’ Caribe inflatable RIB that I purchased two or three weeks ago and had a 5hp Nissan on him. He barely planed with one person and was way too slow and way to uncomfortable, so I sold him after 4 days.

So I remembered my father had my grandfathers 12’ aluminum Lone Star boat out at the farm. I plan to bring it back, clean it up and use it for a get around boat. Getting around the lake etc in our home marina. We aren’t cruising so lifting it on davits etc isn’t a problem.

My three questions are:

1. What would you do to refinish this to a shiny aluminum? Wire wheel? Sandblasting? Paint stripper?

2. It will be used in brackish/salt water how do I protect it?

3. Should I go 10hp or 15hp outboard? I don’t want major speed but I’d like to be able to nicely plane and get there with two grown men aboard.

Stats from old Lone Star literature are 11’9”, 98lbs.

Years ago I used to fly and maintain seaplanes in salt water! After you sand all the paint off get some aluminum brightener and wash the hull with that. When dry..wipe it down with a clean rag and lawyer thinner! Prime the bare aluminum with zinc xhromste primer. It's a funky yellow/green color. Give it a pretty healthy coat! When dry, give it a very light sanding with 220 paper... Wipe again with a dclesn cloth dampened in laquer thinner...don't sort the rag as it will remove the primer. Then paint the color of your choice. I recently used Rust-Oleum Top Side Paint that I purchased at Hone Depot. On an old Boston Whalers. I rolled and tipped it. It came out with a mirror finish. Two weeks later, when it completely hardened, I rubbed it out using s fine rubbing compound..

Painless · Sep 17, 2018

Aluminum oxidizes immediately to Aluminum Oxide after sanding. I believe it’s advised to use an acid based primer for the bare aluminum
Rustoleum and others make it. I’m repainting some powder coated aluminum window frames that have the factory coating oxidizing.

dennismenace111 · Sep 17, 2018

Painless said:
Aluminum oxidizes immediately 5

to Aluminum Oxide after sanding. I believe it’s advised to use an acid based primer for the bare aluminum
Rustoleum and others make it. I’m repainting some powder coated aluminum window frames that have the factory coating oxidizing.

I can only relay how aluminum aircraft skins are protected in a salt water environment. Zinc oxide primers are the standard.
There is an epixy based zinc oxide as well which us also very good!

The downside to the Rust-Oleum Topside paint, is that it's not formulated to be painted on surfaces that will be in constantly under water. I made that mistake with my Whaler it lives most of it's time on a trailer. After 3 years, it's peeling on the bottom areas of the hull. The sides of the hull above the water line are still perfect. Even in the south Florida sun!

Painless · Sep 17, 2018

dennismenace111 said:
I can only relay how aluminum aircraft skins are protected in a salt water environment. Zinc oxide primers are the standard.
There is an epixy based zinc oxide as well which us also very good!

The downside to the Rust-Oleum Topside paint, is that it's not formulated to be painted on surfaces that will be in constantly under water. I made that mistake with my Whaler it lives most of it's time on a trailer. After 3 years, it's peeling on the bottom areas of the hull. The sides of the hull above the water line are still perfect. Even in the south Florida sun!

Good to know. I'm only doing window frames on my boat.

ctbarbarian · Sep 17, 2018

Without hijacking the thread, would this make a good tow
behind dinghy?
I have a 9ft Caribe with a 9hp johnson on Weaver davits.
I feel safer in the 10ft Lund aluminum boat but I hear
aluminum boats aren't welcome at some dinghy docks.

Which would you bring along ? or both ?

ben2go · Sep 17, 2018

I was gonna recommend a 9.9 tie hot sue but I see you have a better plan. Those boats can take a 15hp two smoker. One of the guys on the tinboats forum did one up nice with a small wood side console about midways. I can't remeber his engine but it was remote controlled instead of tiller. Real nice boat. Been years snce I've seen it.

toocoys · Sep 19, 2018

Dougcole said:
Perfect engine for that boat. Is that block the same as the 6hp and 8hp or the same as the 15hp? I can't remember, and Ted may be right, it might not be able to be souped up to 15hp. If it can, it seems like a no brainer.

I must have missed this question. The powerhead on the 9.9 is the exact same as the 15. They are commonly called "JohnnyRude's" when you do the carb swap. I've been reading a ton on the conversion and watched a lot of youtube videos from guys who have done it.

This guy does a TON of work and has lots of videos on small outboards.

ben2go · Sep 20, 2018

The crappy thing is, a lot of lakes around me have banned two strokes or only allow the newer type "clean" two strokes.

tallswede · Sep 20, 2018

I have a 4hp Johnson of that vintage. Great outboards. If you need parts, Stone & Sons Marine in Houston carry lotsa parts for those engines.

Kevin

QUOTE=toocoys;697612]I think I've secured a 1984 Johnson 9.9 for about $450 including shipping to me.

The fun part is that the 9.9 is the exact same engine as the 15 except for the carburetor. So a carb swap should give me more hp if I end up needing it.

I think it looks like a very clean engine.[/QUOTE]

toocoys · Sep 21, 2018

ben2go said:
The crappy thing is, a lot of lakes around me have banned two strokes or only allow the newer type "clean" two strokes.

How can they ban an engine? That would be like telling people they must trade in their older car.

toocoys · Sep 21, 2018

tallswede said:
I have a 4hp Johnson of that vintage. Great outboards. If you need parts, Stone & Sons Marine in Houston carry lotsa parts for those engines.

Kevin

Awesome! I hope to have the Lone Star back here from the farm in a few weekends. I'm going to have to work on it at our RV lot since the shipyard wont let me DIY.

I think I'm going to buy a 1957 Johnson 7.5hp from the same guy... I need a project. :rofl:

It'll be my special occasion motor.

Lone Star dinghy?!?

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